CRCT – BT

CRCT’s Q4 DPU rises 10%

Trust’s 9 income-producing malls ‘operating at close to full occupancy rate of 98.1%’

UNDETERRED by the uncertain global economy, China’s consumers are continuing to spend money – and CapitaRetail China Trust (CRCT) is reaping the benefits.

The real-estate investment trust (Reit) posted strong results for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, with distribution per unit (DPU) rising 10 per cent year on year to 2.28 cents.

Total DPU for 2011 rose to 8.7 cents, a 4.1 per cent increase from 2010. The distribution yield is 7.6 per cent, based on CRCT’s closing price of $1.14 on Thursday.

Income available for distribution for the quarter exceeded the forecast by 9.1 per cent and stood at $15.7 million – a 21 per cent increase from the corresponding period a year ago.

For the year, income available for distribution was $57.2 million, 9.6 per cent higher than 2010’s $52.2 million.

Said Tony Tan, chief executive officer of CRCT’s manager CapitaRetail China Trust Management Ltd: ‘We are pleased to deliver a set of strong financial results with our nine income-producing malls operating at close to full occupancy rate of 98.1 per cent.’

CRCT saw its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in net property income, which rose 17 per cent to 113.5 million yuan (S$22.5 million), while for the full year, this was up 16 per cent at 443 million yuan.

But on a comparable portfolio basis that excludes CapitaMall Minzhongleyuan, which was acquired in June last year, net property income rose 12 per cent year on year.

Gross revenue for the quarter was 181.8 million yuan, an increase of 19 per cent over Q4 2010. In Singapore dollar terms, this was 3.8 per cent higher than forecast. This was mainly due to the contribution of 13.5 million yuan from CapitaMall Minzhongleyuan.

CRCT’s other malls contributed 14.8 million yuan, the increase of which was attributed to higher occupancies achieved in CapitaMall Qibao and CapitaMall Saihan, and higher rental growth in CapitaMall Xizhimen.

With China’s retail sales growing at a robust rate of 17 per cent in 2011, CRCT said that it is ‘confident’ about its prospects in China: ‘Increasing urbanisation, growing disposable income, and pro-consumption government policies will support the sustainable growth of the retail market in China.’

Mr Tan said that asset enhancement and acquisitions will be key drivers of growth in 2012, and added that a sustainable growth rate of 5 to 7 per cent over the next 20 to 30 years would be a ‘reasonable forecast’.

CRCT rose 4.5 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to close at $1.185 per unit yesterday.